A quota quickie crime melodrama, AT TWELVE MIDNIGHT has a few elements of interest for the modern viewer but is mainly a chore to sit through. It starts off quite deliriously, with quick-fire action and loads of sped-up fight scenes (undercranking is a speciality in this film) before settling down into turgid and rather incomprehensible family shenanigans.
The storyline is about a gang of robbers who get mixed up in the fortunes of an extended family. A kidnapping plot develops in the second half, but it's all rather silly and seems to have been written without much thought or insight. The somewhat chubby Charles Hutchison is an odd choice for heroic lead, while the ladies are reduced to annoying screaming and racy bath-time shots. Still, we do get future Ming the Merciless actor Charles Middleton hamming it up, which is something.
What I did enjoy about AT TWELVE MIDNIGHT are the stunt and action scenes, which have much in common with the serials. There are a couple of near-death experiences which took my breath away. One guy jumps off a low roof in a clever stunt, but the most exciting is the scene where a guy rolls under a moving train. There are also cliff dives plus the usual two fisted fights. More action and less talk would have resulted in a fun film, but as it stands AT TWELVE MIDNIGHT only has the occasional good bit to enjoy.